Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-11-30
RATS IN A MENAGERIE.
a Reporters Experience with q Parloi
Monkeys, Rats, Birds. Mice.

Rife Monkeys, Rats, Birds. Mice.
The rel orter followed Mr. Reiche into o
little back Office. where fifteen or twenty
bullfinches were ranged in tiny wooden
cages against the wall. Mr.. Reiche drew
two chairs up to a big window which
opened oa small yard rooted In with
glass like a dollhouse. The reporter sat
down in one chair and Mr.. Reiche took
the other Are you a good shnif' the
latter asked rs he reached back TO his
desk and produced u small ~ cal.ber par
lor rife
Il was once connected with n paper
published iii Tombstone. a. t, began
the reporter, 'and'-
Say no more: that II do" broke in Mr..
Reiche. But | asked You for very
good reason. You see. ! don't mind your
shooting all the rats you want, but !
would rather you would coIfiue yourself
to them
But where are the rats''
''Out ia the yard. Keep quiet and
they'll show themselves"
The reporter kept quiet and looked ont
into the yard. IL WAS not like any back
yard he had ever seen before. On one
side of il We're piled n number Of wooden
boxes with iron bars in front Of them.
The boxes were ranged against the fence
in long rows one above the other In them
We're about two dozen monkeys Of various
breeds. six months old mountain lion,
several jackalS, n few bad -ers, "a pJrCu-
pine three white cockatoos and any mum
Der Of rose colOred ones, a boa constricto,
two large balloons. nest Of featheTy
squirrels, some swans and an antelope.
Scattered in the cages and on the ground
Were pieces Of bread, bits of crackers, kcr-
ncls OF corn and bird seed, which the well
fed and careless animals had wasted. This
food il what attracts The rats and mice,
and at night great numbers of them
scamper about the place ami wax fatter
and fdtter at Mr.. Reche'S expense.
II must have been an of day for rats,
however, for only seven made their ap-
pearauce during the half hour which the
reporter put in trying to shoot them. II
was lots OF fun. though, and every animal
in the place seemed 10 enjoy IT,. When
ever the little rife would crack like q whip
and puff Of white smoke wouid announce
the death Of a rat all the monkeys would
chatter and express their approya! by un-
mistakable signs.
The rats We're all hig fellows and as fat
as a prison warden. Mr.. Roiche says
they are very fierce and cause him much
trouble. ''One Of them nearly killed the
little lion The other night, he said. The
lion has been in the habit of killing ell
the rats that came within its reach. Il
grabs them bv the baCi. the same as a ter
rier does and shakes the life cut of them
i'll a jiffy. Il missed its hold the other
night, though, and the rat managed TO
bite ii in the nose. When the men cs,s-.
here in the morning they found the lion
lying half dead from the loss Of blood and
Ii has not iuily.srccsvered yet. | bathed
the wound ---itn aim water and fed the
s.ck beast on live pigeons to tempt its ap-
petite. IL is now much better
"Win the monkeys Kill rats
"No; the monkeys pay no attention to
them at all. | think they are afraid Of
them. All the cat animals kill rats when
ever they get chance, and the cockatoos
and swans are great rit slayegs. The boa
constructor never gets II chance TO show
wha, he can do. as the rats avoid his cage
rs il by instinct"
"Don't the rats eat q good many O.
yoir small birds
They can't get the chance. as l have
f..d all the rooms lined with tin TO keep
hem out Sometimes, however, they
sneak in during the Gay, when the doors
are open, snd at night Kill = LOT Of cana
ries or other small birds. The store Is
overrun with mice. but there is so much
seed scattered about that they dent
bother the birds AT all. II bird is sick
and dies during the night the mice will
eat it, but they never attack live one.
There is too much other food lying around
Ehich they like lsV,,pr -
The rat hunt kept up until it was too
dark to see TO shoot any more and the
record stood six dead rats 10 seven shots.
Mr.. Reiche has killed as many rs fifteen
big rats with his little rifle in an hour and
can hit them every time on the run. ],
doesn't seem To make any difference how
many are killed, the supply seems TO be
inexhaustible. \ pair Of ferrcts were
turned loose in the place several years
ago, but they proved more Of nuisance
than the rats, and one night killed a
number Of the fine sand hill Cranes
New York Evening Sun.